On September 30, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) vacated and remanded FERC’s order approving a two-tiered fuel rate structure for Antero Resource Corporation’s (“Antero”) usage of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C.’s (“Tennessee Gas”) Broad Run Expansion Project (“Expansion Project”). The D.C. Circuit held FERC’s approval of the rate structure was arbitrary and capricious because it required Antero to always pay for the highest fuel rates irrespective of the segment’s actual operations.

On September 9, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court upheld FERC’s order granting Broadview Solar, LLC’s (“Broadview”) hybrid solar and battery project qualifying facility (“QF”) status based on FERC’s interpretation of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”). Specifically, even without the benefit of Chevron deference (discussed below), the D.C. Circuit reaffirmed FERC’s interpretation that PURPA’s 80 MW statutory size limitation should be applied using the capacity a QF can “send out” to the grid, even if the facilities have a higher aggregate generating capacity.

On September 18, 2025, FERC accepted in part and denied in part the Maine Office of Public Advocate’s (“Maine OPA”) request for eight New England Transmission Owners (“Identified NETOs”) to answer information requests as part of the Information Exchange Period within their Formula Rate Protocols (“Protocols”). Three of the Identified NETOs must now answer Maine OPA’s information requests regarding procedures for evaluating the need for asset condition projects; all Identified NETOs must provide information on their respective procedures for ensuring asset condition projects are not placed in service before such projects are needed.

In the latest chapter in a long-running saga dealing with certain credits for transmission upgrades in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), on September 18, 2025, FERC directed SPP to submit a compliance filing addressing certain aspects of SPP’s proposed plan (Refund Plan) for unwinding credit payment obligations assessed by SPP.

Join host Bill Derasmo as he chats with Aric Zurek, president of Fluence Digital and SVP of Fluence. Aric shares insights from his diverse career in nuclear, gas, oil, and battery storage, and discusses Fluence’s strategic acquisitions of AMS and Nispera. Learn how software, AI, and machine learning are transforming energy storage, optimizing trading strategies, and enhancing asset reliability. Explore the evolving energy storage market and the shift towards lifecycle cost considerations. Don’t miss this engaging discussion!

On August 29, 2025, FERC issued three orders accepting tariff revisions proposed by PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric (“PGE”) to enable both utility’s participation in the California Independent System Operator Corporation’s (“CAISO”) Extended Day-Ahead Market (“EDAM”) and accepting CAISO’s proposed tariff revisions which modify the EDAM’s allocation of congestion revenues. The three orders issued by FERC clear the way for PacifiCorp and PGE, the first two entities to file tariff revisions to participate in the EDAM, to enter the market in 2026.

On August 28, 2025, FERC reauthorized Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC’s (Transco) Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE) to deliver natural gas supply to the Northeast, including the New York City area. FERC previously issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) for NESE in 2019, but Transco let…

On August 25, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) granted NextEra Duane Arnold, LLC (“NEDA”) a waiver of certain sections of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“MISO”) tariff to use MISO’s generating facility replacement process for the recommissioning of the Duane Arnold nuclear power facility (“Project”) in Palo, Iowa. The order also extends the Project’s commercial operation date to December 31, 2029.

In this episode, hosts Bill Derasmo and John Leonti, chair of Troutman Pepper Locke’s Energy practice, sit down with Todd Crescenzo, managing partner at Clear Creek Investments, and Jorge Diaz Schneider, CEO of ION Storage Systems. ION, a Clear Creek portfolio company, is pioneering solid-state battery technology using a breakthrough ceramic bilayer electrolyte.

On June 2, 2025, President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Laura Swett to occupy the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) seat previously held by Chairman Mark Christie. Following this, on July 16, 2025, Trump nominated David LaCerte for another vacant commissioner position at FERC. Swett is currently practicing as an energy attorney at the law firm Vinson & Elkins, while LaCerte serves as the principal White House liaison and senior advisor to the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.